Fresh face burns Aces in season opener against defending champion Liberty

Las Vegas guard Chelsea Gray looks to set up the offense during the team's season opener in New York. Photo Credit: Las Vegas Aces

A recent addition to the rivalry between the Las Vegas Aces and New York Liberty paid big dividends in the first meeting of the new year for the pair.

After receiving their championship rings, New York proceeded to hand Las Vegas a loss in the season opener, 92-78, Saturday, May 17 from the Barclays Center. As a result, the Aces are now 0-1 to start a season for the first time since 2021.

“We just have a lot of work to do,” head coach Becky Hammon said. “The defense was disappointing, really disappointing. We didn’t execute schemes – I thought we were soft, I thought we followed people around which is why you get hammered in the paint.”

Saturday’s contest not only featured the league’s last three champions but also featured the league’s last three Most Valuable Players in forwards A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart. Entering play, the two franchises had equally split 64 previous meetings.

The road trip to start the season will conclude Tuesday night with a meeting with Connecticut. That contest is set for Tuesday, May 20 with tip-off set for 4 p.m.

“Once we can build these habits and they can become second nature to do our system, I think it’ll run a lot smoother,” Hammon said. “

First-year New York guard Natasha Cloud had her fingerprints all over this one on both ends of the ball, coming up big when it mattered most for her new team. She converted back-to-back and-ones in the fourth quarter to hold off the Las Vegas rally. Later in the frame, she’d drill a deep three to put the home team up nine.

“I just think she’s relentless,” Hammon said. “I think she plays ridiculously hard the entire time. She’s in really great shape, she knows exactly who she is and she never gets outside of that.”

Aces guard Jackie Young takes one of her 12 three-point attempts in the team's season-opening loss to the Liberty. Photo Credit: Las Vegas Aces

After a timeout following that made three, Cloud stripped guard Jackie Young just past halfcourt as part of her statement game. Young didn’t make her first field goal of the game until about midway through the second quarter before ending the first half with just five points on 1-of-7 shooting while guarded mainly by Cloud.

Young began to heat up coming out of halftime, knocking down three third-quarter three-pointers on her way to 16 points on 5-for-19 from the field. Twelve of those 19 attempts came from downtown with four of them falling to go along with five rebounds and five assists.

“Getting stops on the defensive end,” she said. “Then just being aggressive, getting out and running in transition.”

Fellow guards Chelsea Gray and Jewell Loyd didn’t have the best shooting nights either considering their combined 6-for-23 shooting mark.

Gray was available for the season opener after missing the first 13 games last season with a foot injury. She came out the gates fast with five straight points early in the game before finishing with 12 points and four assists.

Loyd, on the other hand, was limited to just five points on two made field goals while playing in her first official game with Las Vegas. Her first basket came shortly after Young’s first field goal following four straight misses to begin her Aces career.

While guarded by former teammate Breanna Stewart, Las Vegas guard Jewell Loyd looks for space. Photo Credit: Las Vegas Aces

“Knowing Jewell, she’s not happy about her performance,” Wilson said. “I just wanted to make sure to constantly be in her ear to let her know, ‘Always remember who she is.’ I don’t ever want her to get lost in that.”

Wilson recorded her 100th career double-double as she kicked off a campaign that could capture her a league-record fourth MVP award. In doing so, she became the sixth player in WNBA history to accomplish 100 career double-doubles.

“Last year, I felt like I kind of didn’t pay attention to a lot of stuff and I missed out on some ‘In the moment’ things,” she said. “So this year I’m definitely going to take those in because they don’t come by [often].”

As her team struggled in the early going, Wilson racked up 11 first-quarter points. In the first half, Las Vegas was 0-for-8 with zero points scored in minutes where she was on the bench.

Aces forward A'ja Wilson battles down low with Liberty center Jonquel Jones. Photo Credit: Las Vegas Aces

Wilson concluded the night with a game-high 31 points and a game-high 16 rebounds. Even with that performance, the Aces were still outscored by 24 points in the paint.

“It was a mixture of things,” she said. “It wasn’t just post play, it was direct line drives. It’s just a mixture of things that we have to put a stop to. This league is too good to just let you go inside and get easy looks.”

Reserve guard Dana Evans scored 10 points in her first game with the Aces including an and-one finish in the first quarter to briefly take the lead. In addition, she drained two three-pointers in the fourth quarter as part of the comeback efforts.

Late in regulation, 2024 draft pick Elizabeth Kitley made her WNBA debut, scoring two points in the closing minutes of the loss.